Improvements must be made in all areas of the health system in order to relieve the pressure on staff and improve patient care. 

That is according to Dr Matthew Sadlier, who believes that the new public-only contracts being offered to consultants will not deliver the change necessary.

The contract will require consultants to be more available across the week to allow for quicker discharges and more efficient care.

Under the contract, basic pay ranges from €209,919 to €252,000 per annum on a six-point scale for a 37-hour week.

Dr Sadlier told The Anton Savage Show that the government is expecting over 2,500 people to switch contracts without sufficient consultation with a wider group.

He said that this pay scale is in line with high quality healthcare systems abroad that attract Irish talent with better working conditions.

"Money is not the only issue. The other issue is: Are you able to do your job in Ireland?

"We have surgeons who don't have sufficient theatre time in their contracts. We have, as we say, an overcrowded emergency department setting.

"We have a hospital system that is short, by any estimation, of about 2,000 to 3,000 beds."

"We have roughly the same number of beds in our acute hospital system today that we had in the year 2000."

Jigsaw

Dr Sadlier said that the generous pay scale in return for more flexibility from consultants is just "one piece of the jigsaw" that is the HSE and "will not solve the problems".

"Yes, potentially this will allow for doctors to work extended hours and possibly do work at the weekends", he said.

"But you won't be able to do the work at the weekends, you won't be able to get doctors to come in regularly on a Saturday morning to be effective unless you also have radiographers, nursing staff, occupational therapists and all the other health and social care professionals that require a health service to work."

"How can you discharge somebody if they aren't able to get their medications that evening?

"You need a broad spectrum across the service in order to help discharges, in order to relieve the pressure."

The new contract, which will come into effect in Febrary, is the only contract that will be offered to new recruits.

'It is likely people have died'

The Irish Medical Organisation said last week that there is a “very real likelihood” that patients have died because of the recent delays in the hospital system.

The organisation claimed the delays were avoidable – and the emergency since the New Year is just “the latest iteration of the permanent crisis in our health services”.

It said it’s likely that patients have died and there is an “even stronger likelihood” that more people will die in the coming weeks because they are afraid to present at Emergency Departments.

There has been a slight decrease in the number of patients on trolleys from record high figures last week, but hospitals remain under severe pressure.

Listen back to the full conversation here.

Main image shows IMO chair Dr Mathew Sadlier at a press briefing at IMO headquarters. Picture by: Leah Farrell/RollingNews